


Love You Back...

by GreenBread



Series: TWDG: One Shot Collection [1]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: AJ actually listens, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Made this because I’m evil, Platonic Relationships, Sad Ending, Short One Shot, Why did I write this at like 5 in the morning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 01:41:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23757040
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GreenBread/pseuds/GreenBread
Summary: Clementine fell against the rough hay bales behind her with a small grunt. Her skin was paler than a sheet of paper and her eyes were beginning to lose their brilliant warm spark. She turned to look at the boy that she had practically raised from birth.”You can’t give up! You can’t give up!” AJ shouted, shaking his head, his eyes wide. Clementine’s breath rattled, shaking with her now steadily decreasing heartbeat. Her eyes were beginning to close when she was startled awake by AJ's voice.”I need you!” The young boy spoke, his voice now also shaking. ”I need you...”
Relationships: AJ | Alvin Jr. & Clementine (Walking Dead)
Series: TWDG: One Shot Collection [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741540
Comments: 3
Kudos: 18





	Love You Back...

Clementine fell against the rough hay bales behind her with a small grunt. Her skin was paler than a sheet of paper and her eyes were beginning to lose their brilliant warm spark. She turned to look at the boy that she had practically raised from birth. 

”You can’t give up! You can’t give up!” AJ shouted, shaking his head, his eyes wide. Clementine’s breath rattled, shaking with her now steadily decreasing heartbeat. Her eyes were beginning to close when she was startled awake by AJ's voice.

”I need you!” The young boy spoke, his voice now also shaking. ”I need you...”

She took a large, long and deep breath before speaking. ”I’m so sorry, Kiddo.” She looked down briefly, ignoring AJ’s small gasp. ”This is just what happens sometimes.” She finished, smiling at her kid. Although, it quickly fell. The weight of her own words finally catching up to her.

“But... but it wasn’t supposed to happen to you!” AJ cried. Water brimming around the rims of his eyes, threatening to overflow at a moments notice.

Clementine giggled, her shoulders jiggling slightly. “My little Goofball.” She said, voice quiet.

“It’s Alvin Junior.” AJ weakly protested. Clementine scoffed in response.

“You’ll always be Goofball to me.” She, as fast as lightning, snapped her head away from the child to hide her wince before looking back to see AJ avoiding her gaze and start to play with his torn burgundy leather jacket. His hands toying with the metal zipper.

“Hey, look at me...”

AJ didn’t.

“AJ... _please_.” She begged, Her throat felt tight. AJ eventually relented and walked up to her, spotting the beads of sweat glisten on her forehead. He kneeled next to her leg, the one without the walker bite. Their eyes met.

“You’re such a cutie,” Her hands started to support the right side of his head. “How did I get so lucky.” She fought back the tears and slid her hand along AJ's face. Quickly, she pressed one finger against the tip of the boy’s nose. Her hands dropped down pathetically and rested next to her sore legs.

“Gotcha.” She joked, softly laughing to herself.

“Please... don’t... don’t be silly right now.” AJ pleaded, barely choking out his words. “Not now. Please.” He shook his head, choosing to look at the floor instead of her. His guardian. His protector. His _parent._

Clementine looked at him sadly. “I just wanted to see you smile,” She eventually muttered. “One last time.”

AJ’s head snapped to her now even more pale body. She looked like as weak as glass. “Don’t say that. Please... don’t say that.”

Clementine looked away from AJ and back again. “I need to make sure you remember.”

“Remember what?”

“The rules. What’s number one?”

AJ’s gaze fell to the giant, gruesome gash in her leg and the walker bite.

“I know, it’s pretty bad buddy. But I need to know you can survive.” _Without me..._

“Never go alone.” He finally bit out. Hope quickly built up in his brown irises. “So... so I can’t leave. Not without you.”

“AJ...” She shook her head.

“It’s your rule.” He shouted.

“You won’t be alone. Not for long. Get back to the school.” Her sentences were becoming shorter. Something both she and AJ noticed.

“I don’t know how.”

“Sure you do. It was one of the...” She took a breath. “One of the first things I ever taught you.”

AJ followed her line of sight when Clementine’s object of focus was no longer on him. Instead it was onto the dead walker laying in the middle of James’ barn.

“You need to make sure they can’t smell you. So...” Her breathing once again rattled. “There’s a fresh juicy Walker just waiting to be gutted.” She smiled at him, again.

“Grab that axe.” She demanded. “You know what to do with it.”

AJ slowly waddled toward the axe and heaved it off the floor. He raised it above his head and with a hefty swing, it soared downwards and hit the corpse in the stomach. Blood and guts covered the axe head when AJ pulled it back out again.

Clementine closed her eyes and listened to the squelching of the walker’s organs. It wasn’t a pleasant thing to hear, but it was necessary.

When AJ finally turned around, Clementine’s eyes filled with pride. It was a strange thing to be proud of someone for. Covering themselves with blood, but that was the world they lived in now.

“Next rule: what do we do when the monster’s come?”

“Clem...” AJ whined.

“AJ.”

It was a slow second before AJ answered. “Shoot them in the head.” He rotated his body to look at Clementine once again.

“Got any more ammo?”

AJ quickly searched his pockets. “There isn’t anymore.”

“Ok then. Fuck.” She stared at the now red axe head.

“And the last rule?”

AJ stood there. Still. Unmoving.

“I want to stay. With you.” He started trotting towards her, the axe head grinding against the floor as he did. “I know what will happen... and I don’t care. I don't want to go. I just want to sit next to you and...”

He looked up at her. ”...and stay. Like that monster couple, from the train station. Even if someone kills us later. We’ll just... Sit. For a very long time.”

Upon seeing Clemintine’s conflicted face he continued. ”Please. Just let me stay.”

”Sorry, kid. But no. I have a job for you.” She took a deep breath. ”I need you to get back to your room. I need you to sleep in your bed, and have friends and grow tall.”

”Taller than I ever was, I hope.” She finished with a small, cheeky grin. ”I need you to live, AJ. For me... That’s your job now.”

”Ok, Clem.” AJ said, defeated. ”That’s my job.”

Clementine looked at her Goofball’s face. It was still cute, even with blood smeared across his cheek. She smiled and deflated further into the haybale behind her.

”Last rule.” She ignored AJ’s protest. ”What do we do if I get bit.”

AJ let his tears crash against the wood floorboards. Her eyes saddened. ”Are you gonna make me say it?”

The little boy hugged the axe closer and continued crying.

”Fine. Just leave.” She stared directly into his eyes.

”B-but before you said-”

”I know. But now that we’re here. My heart is saying something e-oomph.”

AJ had just barrelled into her. His arms were wrapped around her, bring her into a tight hug. A hug she hesitantly returned. For a brief moment, her vision faltered. She panicked and tried to push AJ away. But she was too weak to even move her arms anymore. The panic never died away, even as she did everything in her might to stop herself from turning while he was on top of her.

Eventually, AJ stopped hugging her and his warmth left her, leaving her frail body cold. He slowly dragged himself to the back of the barn where there was a small door and looked at the two walkers on the other side. He groaned and opened the door.

One of the two walkers pushed into the barn and was met with AJ’s axe to the neck, decapitating it. The next one tripped over the first walker’s body. The boy slammed his weapon onto its head, killing it. He pulled the bloody axe out of its head and stood at the door, taking one last look at Clementine. She smiled sadly at him.

“I-I love you, Goofball.” The brunette croaked.

“I love you too, mom.”

Sadly, Clementine smiled at AJ’s retreating form, tears brimming in her now dull amber eyes. She closed her eyes and slumped to the side. Her last breath escaping her lips as her head collided against the cold wooden flooring of the barn with a resounding smack.

Slowly, her eyes reopened. They were now white, having shed her vibrant irises and her skin was now a ghastly grey. A low groan crawled out of her mouth as she proceeded to pull herself to the still open exit of the barn and out into the wilderness.


End file.
